Meaning & Origins

Middle English vernacular form of Lucas, Latin form of the post-classical Greek name Loukas ‘man from Lucania’. This owes its perennial popularity throughout Christian Europe to the fact that, from the 2nd century onwards, the third gospel in the New Testament has been ascribed to the Lucas or Luke mentioned at various places in Acts and in the Epistles. Little is known about him beyond the facts that he was a doctor, a Gentile, and a friend and convert of St Paul. The name was borne by the character Luke Skywalker in the film Star Wars (1977), and rose sharply in popularity in the 1990s.